Pistachio Homage

This is a double-layered pistachio confection:  Pistachio Gianduja and Pistachio Marzipan.

The recipe is from Greweling's Chocolates and Confections, combined with my own notes.

Pistachio Gianduja*:

250 g Pistachios
100 g Pistachios (for topping the chocolates later)

200 g Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

300 g Dark Chocolate (melted and cooled to 30C)

1)  Toast all of the pistachios.  

2)  In a food processor, grind 250g of the pistachios with 1/2 of the icing sugar to as fine a consistency as possible, releasing their oil.

3)  Add the melted chocolate and remaining confectioners' sugar, and process only until combined (or mix by hand).

4)  Table the mixture (cooling to 27C or below) and temper.

5)  Pour into frame, and allow to set

*Pronounced jeeon-doo-ya

Pistachio Marzipan:

125 g Almonds
125 g Pistachios
195 g Sugar
65 g Glucose Syrup
70 g Water

1)  Plunge the almonds and pistachios into boiling water.  Return to a boil.  Cover, remove from heat, and allow to soak for 5 minutes.  Drain the nuts.
2)  Coarsely grind the nuts in a food processor.
3)  Combine the sugar, glucose syrup, and water in a small pot.  Cook to 120C.  [Stir constantly until it boils, but then do not stir at all.]
4)  Pour the hot syrup over the chopped nuts in a stainless-steel bowl.  Mix together lightly.
5)  Pour the syrup-coated nuts onto an oiled marble slab.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
6)  Grind half of the batch at a time in a food processor until it reaches the desired fine consistency.  (This may take 10 minutes or more.)  If the marzipan separates during the grinding process, add a small quantity of liquid such as spirit, almond extract, or boiled syrup to restore the emulsion.
7)  Combine the ground batches of marzipan.  Allow to cool to room temperature, and spread evenly over the gianduja.  Let cool as much as possible for easier cutting.

Chocolates:

1)  Remove the jianduja/ marzipan stackup from the frame.
2)  Cut into small rectangles, about 1/2" x 1".
3)  Temper 600g of dark chocolate.
4)  Dip the pieces, and top with a toasted pistachio.

Mom`s Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These are the chocolate chip cookies I grew up with, and they're always irresistibly good.

• 1 Cup Butter and/or Margarine (half and half works well)
• 1 1/4 Cups Brown Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/4 Cup Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 Cup chocolate Chips

In the mixer, with paddle, whip together Butter and Brown Sugar until well combined.

Add the Eggs, one at a time, and Vanilla.  Mix until well combined and creamed.

Add the Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, and Cinnamon and mix briefly until uniform.  

Add the Rolled Oats, and mix until just combined.

Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.  

Scoop cookies onto baking sheet, press flat, and bake at 350F for 10 to 14 minutes.  Cool on pan for 5 minutes.  Remove, and let cool on wire rack.  

Hazelnut Marzipan Chocolates

This is a slightly modified recipe from 'Chocolates and Confections' by Peter Greweling.  As far as chocolate confections go, this is middle-of-the-road:  slightly challenging, and somewhat time consuming.  The resulting chocolates are tasty, but not in-your-face.  The flavors unravel as you chew, and thereafter. 

Marzipan:
215 g Blanched Almonds
215 g Blanched Hazelnuts
340 g Sugar
110 g Glucose Syrup
120 g Water

1)  Plunge the almonds into boiling water.  Return to a boil.  Cover, remove from heat, and allow to soak for 5 minutes.  Drain the nuts.
2)  Coarsely grind the nuts in a food processor.
3)  Combine the sugar, glucose syrup, and water.  Cook to 115C.  [Stir constantly until it boils, but then do not stir at all.]
4)  Pour the hot syrup over the chopped nuts in a stainless-steel bowl.  Mix together lightly.
5)  Pour the syrup-coated nuts onto an oiled marble slab.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
6)  Grind half of the batch at a time in a food processor until it reaches the desired fine consistency.  (This may take 10 minutes or more.)  If the marzipan separates during the grinding process, add a small quantity of liquid such as spirit or boiled syrup, to restore the emulsion. [I added almond extract and a pinch of salt during the grinding process.]
7)  Combine the ground batches of marzipan.  Allow to cool to room temperature, roll, and use as desired.  (Marzipan may be made up days in advance if desired.) [At this point, I placed the marzipan into a parchment-lined 8" x 8" x 2" pan and flattened it out with my knuckles.]

Chocolates:

300 g Dark Chocolate, melted and tempered
80 to 100 Hazelnuts, toasted
800 g Milk Chocolate, melted and tempered

8)  Coat the marzipan with the 300 g of tempered dark chocolate.
9)  Before the chocolate layer sets, quickly place the toasted hazelnuts on top, in a grid.
10)  When the chocolate is partially set, cut the slab into squares.
11)  Coat the squares in the tempered milk chocolate. 

Ataif Bil Ashta

This is an interesting Lebanese treat - essentially a pancake ("Ataif") rolled into a cone and filled with a rosewater custard ("Ashta"), and topped with chopped pistachios.

Pancake Batter:
200 g Strong Bakers Flour*
120 g Pastry Flour*
40 g Whole Wheat Flour
8 g Instant Yeast
10 g Sugar
4 g Salt
375 g Milk
375 g Water

*You can probably substitute 320g all-purpose flour for the mix of strong and pastry flours.

1)  Mix all the dry ingredients together, and make a well.
2)  Pour milk and water into the well, and whisk dry into wet.  Whisk into a smooth batter. 
3)  Cover and rest for 45 minutes.
4)  Cook on a hot (med-high heat), lightly greased skillet until bubbles form on the surface and pancakes are cooked through (do not flip).
5)  Cool on a parchment-lined tray

Filling:
500 ml Milk, cold
50 g Corn Starch
100 g Sugar
5 g Salt
50 g Double Cream*
30 ml Rose Water
15 ml Vanilla Extract
40 g Pistachios, toasted and chopped

*If you can't get double cream, condensed-sweetened milk would probably work well.

1)  In a bowl combine the corn starch, half of the sugar, and half the milk. 
2)  In a pot, bring remaining milk, salt, and sugar to a boil.
3)  Whisk in starch slurry and bring back to a boil.
4)  Remove from heat and add double cream, rose water, and vanilla.
5)  Pour custard into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (right against the custard, to prevent skin), and refrigerate until completely cooled.

Assembling:
Fold pancakes in half, and pinch them together at the edges most of the way around, to form little cones.  Pipe the custard into the cones, and sprinkle with pistachios.  Refrigerate until serving. (Alternatively, instead of piping, spread some custard onto the pancakes, then fold and pinch).

Gajjar Halwa

This is a classic Indian sweet, made of cooked-down carrots.  It resembles mashed sweet potatoes in both texture and savory-sweet flavor, but has some added treasures: almonds, pistachios, raisins and khoya.

1 kg Carrots, peeled and grated
1 L Milk
300 g Sugar
100 g Ghee (or veg oil)
5 g Cardamom Powder
60 g Khoya, grated (or ricotta)
20 g sliced Almonds
10 g Pistachio
15 g Raisins

Heat half the ghee in a large pan and add the carrots.  Saute, stirring often, until the carrots have reduced in volume by 1/2 and have a texture resembling mashed sweet potatoes - about 30 to 45 minutes.

Add the cardamom powder and milk.  Continue to cook until milk has evaporated - another 30 minutes or more.  Add sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes until it has dissolved.

Remove from heat, and add the grated khoya, and mix well.

Heat the rest of the ghee and fry the almonds, pistachio, and raisins.  Drain, and add to halwa.  Serve hot or cold.  

Florentines

These crispy-chewy treats have their origin in Paris France, where they were made for a royal visitor of Florence. All sorts of nuts and dried fruits could be subbed-in for the almonds and candied mixed peel.

• 210 g Butter
• 90 ml Cream (35%)
• 300 g Sugar
• 90 g Honey

• 360 g Sliced Almonds
• 60 g Almonds, ground finely
  
• 200 g Mixed Candied Peel, finely chopped
• 60 g Flour
• 15 ml Vanilla
• 3 g Salt

• 400 g Dark Chocolate

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Line 3 or 4 FLAT sheet pans with parchment.
2) Bring the butter, cream, sugar, and honey to a boil in a large pot. Stir in all other ingredients (except chocolate).
3) Spoon small amounts of batter (1/8" thick or less) onto sheet pans, leaving LOTS of room for them to spread.
4) Bake at 400F for 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown.
5) Allow to cool.
6) Using an offset spatula, spread some tempered chocolate onto each Florentine's bottom, and place chocolate-side down onto parchment paper to set. (If chocolate is oozing through: spread some chocolate onto parchment paper, and gently place Florentine on top.) Spread some more tempered chocolate over the set chocolate, texture with a pastry comb, and place chocolate-side up to set.

Cashew-Cherry Nougat

I saw Anna Olson whip this up on her show Sugar the other day. Her recipes calls for almonds and hazelnuts, but I substituted those with 1 cup of toasted cashews and 1/2 cup dried cherries. Here is her recipe, with excellent instructions:

• 1 cup Blanched Hazelnuts [or Cashews]
• 4 x 1/2-ounce packages blanched whole Almonds
• 1/2 cup ground Almonds [or Dried Cherries]
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 cup light Corn Syrup [ie: glucose syrup]
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup Water
• 2 Egg Whites
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Almond Extract
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add hazelnuts and whole almonds to cookie sheet. Toast until golden, about 10 minutes.
3. Add sugar, corn syrup, honey, salt, and water in a heavy bottomed saucepot (3 quart). Over medium heat, stir mixture until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking, without stirring until syrup reaches the hard ball stage, reading 252 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
4. Meanwhile, in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. While mixer is on, in a thin steady stream, pour 1/4 cup of hot syrup over egg whites, beating at high speed until mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape, about 5 minutes.
6. Continue to cook the remaining syrup to brittle threads, reading 315 to 318 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
7. While mixer is on, in a thin steady stream, pour remaining hot syrup over egg whites, beating at high speed until mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape. Add vanilla extract, almond extract, and butter, beating again for about 5 minutes. Stir in toasted nuts and ground almonds with a wooden spoon. Transfer mixture to a buttered 11 x 7 x 1 1/4 inch pan [or lined with parchment and sprayed with oil]. Smooth the mixture evenly with a spatula [quickly]. If it is a particularly humid day, refrigerate until firm. [Some recipes use rice paper - the thin stuff you can print on, not the stuff for making salad rolls - and sandwich the nougat between, to make it less sticky to handle.]
8. Loosen edges of candy with a knife. Invert nougat on cutting board. Cut into pieces [using a hot, dry knife]. Store in airtight container.

Pecan Buttercrunch Squares

This recipe is very easy, full of fat and sugar, but quite good. It's from the Kinnereth Cookbook

1/4 lb sweet butter
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate bits (ie: 1 cup chocolate chips)
14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups pecan halves
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 oz (1 cup) butterscotch chips

"Line sides and bottom of 9x13" pan with foil. Preheat oven to 350F. Melt butter and pour into lined pan. Sprinkle crumbs over butter. Sprinkle chocolate and butterscotch chips over base. Pour condensed milk over top. Cover with pecan halves. Bake 5 minutes, then reach into oven and press nuts down so they won't fall off later. Bake another 20-25 minutes, until milk has turned golden brown in colour. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate 1-2 hours before cutting.

Luscious Lemon Squares

This recipe is from Bonnie Stern's 'Essentials of Home Cooking:'

Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut in cubes

Filling
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp lemon peel

2 Tbsp icing sugar for topping

1) Mix the crust ingredients, cutting the butter in as you would for a pie dough.
2) Press it into an 8-inch square pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350F until lightly golden.
3) Meanwhile, make the filling: beat eggs and granulated sugar. Stir in the flour, baking powder, lemon juice and peel. Pour over base, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until set and brown around the edges. Cool.
4) Dust with icing sugar. Cut into squares.

I added a bit of vanilla and didn't have 2 Tbsp worth of lemon peels, so the result was relatively mellow for a lemon square... actually I liked it better than the regular super-lemony, tart lemon square.

Almond Crisps

These were made by Aunt Yerra and mom for passover, but I think they'd be great year-round.

• 2 egg whites
• 3 cups sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix lightly and form into little balls, then press into cookies with a wet hand or spoon on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden. Turn off the oven, and leave the cookies in for a further 10 minutes with the door propped open.

Very simple, low in fat, addictive.

Everything Muffins (aka: Morning Glory Muffins)

This is a recipe for excellent muffins that we started making around the Olympics, for catering; they wanted something healthier... These are both healthy and delicious.

• 750g spelt flour
• 800g whole wheat flour
• 25g cinnamon
• 10g nutmeg
• 50g baking soda
• 10g salt
• 950mL oil
• 1000g brown sugar
• 1000g eggs
• 1500g carrots
• 1000g pineapple
• 1500g bananas
• 750g raisins
• 500g toasted walnuts

yield: 60 muffins

Combine all dry ingredients and set aside. Mash bananas in large mixer bowl. Add the rest of the liquids plus sugar, carrots, nuts, and raisins. Add drys, mix just until blended.

Hamantaschen

I guess I missed the boat for Purim, but it's better to celebrate late than not at all.

Today, a note on flour types: White wheat flour comes in a wide variety, depending on the intended use. It's usually a blend of soft winter grain and the harder, more protein-rich summer grain. Each blend contains a specific amount of protein that, when mixed with water, creates gluten. "Cake flour" contains the lowest percentage of protein - 5% to 8%, "pastry flour" contains 8% to 9%, "all-purpose flour" is in the middle with 9% to 12%, and "bread flour" contains the highest - 12% to 13%. Bleaching flour is a process used to turn it from its fresh, natural yellowish colour to a nice eggshell white tinge. It also helps to develop the gluten. While flour can be "naturally" bleached by letting it age for 10 days, the process is usually "artificially" accomplished by adding flour bleaching agents.

I used this recipe for the hamantaschen:

• 2/3 cup pareve margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup sugarpurim quiz
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2-3 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Dash of salt

"1. Cream the shortening with sugar. Add egg and continue creaming until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla. Stir in the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt until a ball of dough is formed (a food processor is excellent for this).
3. Chill for 2-3 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Taking 1/4 of the dough, roll out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut circles of dough with a drinking glass or round cookie-cutter. With your finger put water around the rim of the circle. Fill with 1 teaspoon poppy-seed or nut filling and fold into three-cornered cookies. (Press two sides together, and then fold the third side over and press the ends together.)
6. Bake on a well-greased cookie sheet 10-16 minutes, until the tops are golden."

Note: I used pastry flour.

My fillings:
1) Orange Marmalade (see previous post)
2) Sweet Azuki Paste (see previous post)
3) Walnuts and Honey - I toasted the walnuts, blended half of them to fine pieces, then mixed with honey until I got a nice paste.

They are tasty. The marmalade was a bit problematic, as it expanded greatly and oozed all over. The azuki paste worked well, a good combination of sweet and savory. The honey-walnut hamantaschen were also good, but maybe lacking a bit of moisture.

World's Best Banana Bread

Kheng makes this banana bread a LOT, and it's out of this word... everybody agrees, and they've all been asking for the recipe. Needless to say, he's not giving it out. I only know this version is right because I made it myself while helping him out:

Yields 8 x 4lb loafs. Can be scaled down.

8 lb bananas
8 lb flour
8 lb sugar
300 g baking powder
2 Litres eggs
3 Litres milk
1 Litre vegetable oil
salt, a few pinches

Sift the flour and baking powder - it makes a big difference.

Peel and mash the bananas in the mixer. Add the sugar and mix. Slowly add the eggs and oil while mixing. Slowly add and alternate between the sifted flour/ baking powder and milk while mixing.

Measure 4 lb mix per loaf into loaf pans, and bake at 325 until cooked through and browned on top.

Butter Tarts

I got a chance to help out again on the pastry side, and we made butter tarts...

• 5300g corn starch
• 2 lb melted butter
• 2360g sugar
• 2400g eggs
• 1 L raisins
• 96 x 4" frozen pie tops

Thaw the pie tops in the fridge ahead of time, or stick them into a 325F oven on sheet pans for 1 minute until soft and ready to use.

Soak the raisins in boiling water until they're plump, then strain.

Stick the butter into a microwave for 2.5 minutes to melt. Heat the cornstarch in a double boiler. Meanwhile, measure out the sugar, and eggs. Add the ingredients to the mixer in this order: sugar, melted butter, cornstarch... mix a little, then gradually add the egg while mixing, and mix until just combined. If it gets over-mixed then it will have too much air, causing it to puff up in the oven then collapse.

Place the pie tops into greaced muffin tins, folding over 3 times so that they fit in nicely. Add about 7 raisins to the bottom of each, then fill with the butter mix, leaving 1/8" for it to expand.

Bake at 325F for 20 minutes.

Bread Pudding

I helped out Kheng over in the pastry section today, and made some bread pudding.

Start off by heating, in a pot:
2 L whipping cream
2 L milk
50 mL vanilla

Stir frequently to avoid curdling, and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat. While whisking, slowly add in:
2 L/ 40 eggs
1.5 kg sugar

Pour this mixture over:
2.5 kg bread, in chunks

Let it sit in the fridge overnight, then sell/ serve.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another thing I did while helping Kheng in pastry today was making up some cookie dough. This makes LOTS of cookies - 14 x 2.5 lb batches - but can be scaled down.

Mix together:
4 lb butter
4 lb sugar
4 lb brown sugar

Add and mix in:
1 L eggs (20 eggs)
100 mL vanilla

Add and mix in:
44 g baking soda
20 g baking powder
10 g salt
2.3 kg flour
1.6 kg rolled oats
1 box special k
2 kg chocolate chips

I then weighed out 2.5lb chunks, and rolled them into logs for somebody else to cut and bake later.

Home-Made Granola

I've been watching Kang - one of the pastry guys - make granola almost every night at work. It's great stuff and sells about $1000 worth a day, even at the steep price of $10 per bag.

The dry stuff: In a bowl, I mixed about 4 cups of rolled oats, maybe a half cup of both pecans and almonds, and around 1/3 cup of both sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Really, this was all eye-balled to my liking.

The wet stuff: In a small pot, on low heat, I melted 1/4 cup of butter with a couple TBSP of honey, 3 to 4 TBSP of brown sugar, orange zest, freshly grated nutmeg, and a dash of cinnamon powder.

The wet was poured onto the dry, mixed up, then spread onto a sheetpan and baked at 325F for 20 to 25 minutes until the nuts were toasted.

Once the toasted mix was slightly cooled, I added dried fruits: cranberries, prunes, and raisins.

Although I can't say it's as good as the stuff we sell at the store, it's pretty good. I kept going back for handfulls.